The first computer we had at home was the Sinclair ZX81 that came with 1kb of memory that could be expanded to 64kb. The small black unit with keys that were flush with the surface hooked directly into a TV (uhf) and the display was in dazzling monochrome. The computer operated on Sinclair BASIC and came with a small programming guide where you could write your own programs and watch them operate on the screen in front of you. This had to have been in early 1981 and using a computer on the kitchen counter was very new and exciting.

Next in line was the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. This unit was likely introduced later in 1981 or early 1982. Yes, this could have been confirmed with a Wikipedia search but this is not a research project. This is a pull memories out of ones ass sort of exercise. I remember that this display for the Texas Instruments unit was big and bright and was very prominent in the electronics department at the local K-Mart. Seeing the visuals, the games that were available, a list of what the computer could do made you feel the need that it had to be yours. This computer was hooked up to a monitor of your choosing and I remember mine had a very green background with lighter green letters when displayed. The game of choice was a climbing game where you used the arrows keys to move yourself up a mountain. The easy level was a fairly low mountain with few instances….it moved up to the Matterhorn…and then the ultimate goal was to conquer Mt. Everest with its snowstorms, falling rocks, and the occasional attack by a Yeti.

Late 1984 or early 1985 brought the Tandy 1000 that could only be purchased at Radio Shack. This unit came as a full system with a monitor which was exciting because everything could be used and connected right out of the giant box. A printer was extra and it was of the dot matrix variety whose biggest challenge was lining up the perforated paper correctly so the printing would start at the correct place on the page. Programming was done on this computer as well as early word processing. Games were mediocre compared to console units such as the Intellivision. Similar computers were used in the high school computer lab.

College came in 1988-1993 and all computer work for all classes was done in the John Tomlinson Library on the Mesa State College campus. No personal computer was owned during this time and having one in the dorm room was never even a consideration.

The first laptop was purchased while living in Denver in late 1993 and was an IBM ThinkPad. Papers for graduate school were written on this beast and it saw a lot of use with  America Online. At the time it was black and sleek and sexy and portable. At this time it was clear that computers were just going to get smaller and smaller and exponentially more powerful as time moved forward.